What I've Learned From Programming Languages

I just finished up learning about fourteen new programming languages, and while my head may still be spinning, I've been struck by one thing about learning new languages. Every single new language I learn teaches me something new and valuable about programming. Some languages reveal many new things because they happen to be the first language I've learned based on a new programming paradigm, and other languages may expose only one or two new ideas because they overlap quite a lot with languages I already know. Every language has shown me at least one new thing, though, so I thought I'd take a look back and pick out one thing learned from each language I've encountered. Some of these languages I've used extensively and others I've barely scratched the surface, so I may miss some great insights in the languages less well-known to me, but that's okay. There's still plenty to reflect on.

Tech Book Face Off: Seven Languages in Seven Weeks Vs. Seven More Languages in Seven Weeks

Yes, that's right. I learned fourteen programming languages in as many weeks. Actually, it was more like four weeks, but I just couldn't put these books down. I had wanted to work through them ever since I had read Seven Databases in Seven Weeks a few years ago and loved it. Now I finally made the time to read them, and had a blast the whole time. I shouldn't have waited so long to crack these books open. I started off with Seven Languages in Seven Weeks by Bruce Tate, and then quickly moved on to consuming his follow on book, Seven More Languages in Seven Weeks, co-authored with Ian Dees, Frederic Daoud, and Jack Moffitt. It's not as hard as it would seem to learn about so many languages in such a short amount of time, as long as you already have a few under your belt, because really the hardest programming language to learn is the second one. After you overcome the confusion of holding two different languages in your head, it becomes much easier to add another and another and another. The differences get slotted into your brain more readily, and the major hurdle becomes figuring out how to use the new paradigms and features that you run up against. Let's see how these books handled presenting all of these different languages and smoothing the shock of moving from one language to another in rapid succession.

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